Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1151: Section 1152 The Demon’s Transmutation  

Angel wasn’t paying attention to the situation outside the door; he was earnestly feeding the demon.

In these short minutes, Angel used all sorts of toxins, from biological toxins to neurotoxins, and even potent poisonous potions that polluted energy.

However, the demon in front of him took everything without any issue. After eating all kinds of toxins, it was not only unharmed but… for some energy-containing poisonous potions, Angel could see that it really enjoyed them, even proactively snatching them when Angel took them out.

When Angel wondered if this creature’s stomach was a furnace that feared no food, including toxins, a twist occurred—the demon seemed to be picky at times.

Because the demon ate so fast and the growth of magic marrow meat also required time, Angel used other foods to fill the gaps. The demon didn’t care about the change in the type of food, and even showed great enthusiasm for some.

However, when Angel threw a dark, black object at the demon,

It swallowed it as it had done before. But the next second, its eyes suddenly bulged out and it turned its head to vomit, the sound thunderous!

At first, Angel was quite pleased, thinking that some toxin had taken effect. However, after the demon had been vomiting for a long time, it finally expelled a half-corroded black lump.

The lump landed on the ground, emitting a hissing vapor.

This wasn’t just the foul smell of the demon’s saliva, but it also came with the stench of years-old fermented socks.

Angel stared at the lump, which was hardly recognizable in shape, and remained silent.

If he remembered correctly, that black lump should be… magic bread, and moreover, one he had crafted himself.

He had tried various toxins before, and the demon showed no reaction; however, a magic bread he picked up casually made it react with such violent retching.

This left Angel with complicated feelings. Hadn’t it previously not cared about the taste of food?

Even if the magic bread he made tasted bad, it shouldn’t get spat out, right? At worst, its smell might be a bit off, but one could still stomach it by pinching their nose!

As Angel’s expression turned ugly, the demon finished vomiting, and when it turned its head, it glared at Angel with resentful eyes.

Even though it was not lucid and couldn’t express its full intent, Angel understood its anger:

——How dare you poison me!

I didn’t, it’s not me, you’re talking nonsense! Angel really wanted to shout out loud, but he had indeed been poisoning the creature before; except the demon had shown no reaction at all, and paradoxically, a “non-toxic” magic bread caused such an excessive reaction!

The demon glared at Angel fiercely with its eyes.

Seeing the fierce expression on the demon’s face, Angel subconsciously took out magic marrow meat and threw it towards it. But it made no move to eat it, instead continuing to glare at Angel with terrifying and angry eyes, stepping on the magic marrow meat as it fell to the ground.

The anger from being “poisoned” had, at that moment, outweighed the hunger!

In its remaining rationality, it seemed to understand that the man in front of it possessed a lot of delicious things, but he could poison it, so by killing him, all those delicious things would belong to it!

The demon’s speed increased as it pounced again. Angel cursed inwardly and turned to run.

The situation seemed to have reverted to what it was before. The demon was chasing, while Angel kept dodging.

Their figures flickered like illusions in the misty underground hall. During this, Angel continued to throw food behind him, but the demon’s obsession was completely on Angel and the food seemed ineffective now… that’s not entirely true; the demon still wouldn’t pass up items rich in energy.

However, the more energy items Angel threw, the more the demon’s own energy increased. It was a vicious cycle; in an attempt to stall for time, it resulted in a ‘I diminish, you grow’ scenario, the longer it dragged on, the more the demon’s power recovered, and Angel himself would become weaker.

Furthermore, the demon kept dripping saliva, turning the great hall into a murky haze with the toxic mist it generated. The area where Angel could step became increasingly limited, and sometimes he had to preemptively use ‘Expel Toxins’ to avoid being poisoned midway.

Danger was drawing closer, but so far, Angel had no way to extricate himself from the situation.

Even though he deliberately tried to lure the demon to attack the patterns on the walls, the demon’s power was insufficient to break them.

So, in this nearly enclosed underground hall, all Angel could do was stall for time.

But the more time dragged on, the more unfavorable the situation became for Angel.

Angel was now drenched in sweat, and during another close encounter, as white toxic mist filled the area ahead, he instinctively chose the right path. But at that moment, the demon suddenly shifted its position, blocking his escape route.

Having no other choice, Angel threw an energy item to try to distract the demon.

But this time, the demon did not chase the energy item that had fallen on the other side, but instead, launched an attack directly at Angel.

Such close contact was too late to avoid by speed alone.

Angel once again performed astral projection, and with the support of the Gravity Meridian, he teleported to the opposite side of the area.

The previous situation had been extremely perilous, but thankfully, he managed to escape at the last moment… drip, drip, drip… As Angel thought this, he suddenly heard the sound of dripping water beside his ear.

He looked down and saw that his physical body’s left shoulder had acquired a gaping wound. Crimson blood was slowly falling from the muddled opening.

Meanwhile, on the other side, within the ethereal white fog, the gaunt demon turned around.

Its ferocious face appeared before Angel, mouth agape, revealing a tongue that dangled roughly one meter long, the tip dripping with fresh blood.

Seeing this, Angel almost confirmed that it was indeed its tongue that had inflicted the wound on its shoulder!

The demon’s tongue continued to elongate, stretching from one meter to two, then three… as it hung down into the fog. Before long, an oval-shaped energy crystal was snatched from the fog by the tongue and swallowed into its maw.

That energy crystal just happened to be the one Angel had thrown away earlier. Initially, the demon had not bothered to retrieve it, but now, it had hooked it back with its tongue!

At this sight, Angel’s heart gave a sudden jolt.

Previously, the demon seemed to be in a state of confusion, wildly chasing after Angel, using nothing but its brute physical power. At that time, it was easiest to deal with; Angel could lure it using mere food.

But what happened later was a clear indication of the demon’s transformation. It refused normal food, only accepting energy items, and it started to actively hunt Angel down; then, when weighing energy items against catching Angel, it temporarily abandoned the energy items, choosing to kill Angel first.

It even began to utilize other methods, such as using its tongue.

This chain of actions clearly demonstrated the transformation of the demon. Perhaps it was still delirious, but in its battle consciousness, it began to show a tendency to ‘seek benefit and avoid harm.’

And such a powerful demon, once its battle awareness awoke, there would be no chance for Angel to confront it.

Now it was just the tongue, but next time, the demon might employ even more means, like energy attacks or, perhaps… imposing pressure.

By then, Angel would undoubtedly be facing death.

After using a healing technique to temporarily stop the bleeding from his wounds, Angel became more vigilant in the presence of the demon.

In the following period, as Angel had speculated, the demon’s tactics became increasingly diverse. He had to use the Gravity Meridian several times just to narrowly evade. Yet even so, his body still sustained many wounds.

After a while, Angel felt his entire face burning hot, sweat evaporating, steaming his eyes blurry.

Though the wounds on his body were not fatal, the excessive blood loss was causing him to show signs of fainting.

On the other hand, the demon seemed to grow more lucid and move faster.

Angel knew that he probably wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Drip, drop, drip, drop—Angel no longer tried to distinguish whether this sound was blood dripping or the demon’s saliva.

He lifted his head to find the demon already before him.

Angel gritted his teeth and rallied his energy for another roll. He reached the other side and tossed out a few energy items, hoping to buy a bit more time.

He could feel the ground beginning to shake, indicating that the destruction of Lassudral was drawing ever nearer.

Maybe, if he could drag it out a little longer, the changing structure of the ground might give him a chance to escape.

However, Angel was disappointed. This time, the demon didn’t even glance at the energy items, but instead whirls and attacks Angel—

“Would you like to become my follower?”

By now, Angel’s strength was nearly spent, and it seemed impossible to dodge the demon’s strike. But just at that moment, time around him seemed to stop, and Angel could see the demon’s tongue protruding from its mouth, frozen mid-air.

Angel’s body couldn’t move either, but his thoughts remained unaffected.

“Would you like to become my follower?” The question echoed in Angel’s mind for the second time.

Angel’s gaze drifted toward the center of the hall. There was no one else who would ask such a question except the sinister scholar.

A cold sneer surfaced in Angel’s heart; indeed, the awakening of this demon and their entrapment in the hall were all the sinister scholar’s doing… He chose to pose the question now, thinking Angel wouldn’t refuse.

To refuse would likely mean death at the hands of that demon.

Angel’s mind weighed frantically— to stay alive, it seemed he might have to become the sinister scholar’s follower. But once a follower, his future would be nearly entirely controlled by the Demon God, even his soul would belong to the Demon God.

Reason told Angel that he should submit, but a rebellious emotion within him surged relentlessly.

That rebellious emotion even led Angel’s mind back to the events of the Twilight auction, wondering if he could replicate that situation, if he could summon the creatures of the Nightmare Realm… if only he had the power to turn the tables…

Every thought of Angel’s was visible to the sinister scholar.

When Angel thought of the Queen of the Nightmare Realm, the sinister scholar’s heart skipped a beat, sensing an uncertain danger.

At that moment, the sinister scholar didn’t dare to delve any deeper into Angel’s internal thoughts.

Seeing that Angel had yet to respond, after weighing his options for a moment, the sinister scholar slowly said—